A Love Not Forgotten
by The Ice Mice
Summary: Many years ago, before Severus Snape turned spy for Dumbledore he was in love with a young Death Eater... who was far more then what she seemed...
1. Introduction

THERE IS A WARNING BEFORE AN EVENT TAKES PLACE.

There is a story before time begins.

There is a mystery before a crime.

There is a love before a relationship.

There is a creature before an evolution.

There is good before evil.

There are particles before a thing is formed.

Everything is preceded by everything.

There was an abused child before Minerva McGonagall.

There was a stargazer before Professor Sinastra.

There was a gardener before Professor Sprout.

There was an imaginative young boy before Albus Dumbledore. 

**There was a Death Eater before Severus Snape.**

Xela Lupe, Nestrik, Sapphire Sun, Horsecrazy Rachelle, and AmBLONDE present to you the story before time, where Voldemort was gaining power and Severus Snape was in love with a young female Death Eater …


	2. Prologue

Harry could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.

"Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"

"Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."

"No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"

Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.

"I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more of a Death Eater than I am."

Harry turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was wearing a look of deep skepticism behind Dumbledore's back.

**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, **pages 590-591.


	3. Chapter One

[Title]

Chapter One

By The Ice Mice 

            He watched them, dancing, cavorting like animals after a kill. He had just seen them murder a Muggle child, barely more then a baby, in cold blood. They were animals. 

            And yet, they were the only people he could connect with- the only family he could truly say he had. That didn't say much for him but still… who was he to deny them their fun?

            Tonight was his initiation. He had graduated from Hogwarts just a week before and was legally an adult in the wizarding world. He didn't feel like an adult however, whatever the laws said he was still a frightened child- looking for someplace to belong, people to belong with. 

            One of his few friends, Lucius Malfoy came up to him. Lucius was a pale boy with a pointed face and though he was older then seventeen he gave the appearance of being younger- probably because he was small.

            "Are you ready, Severus? Are you ready to join us?"

            Severus Snape ducked his head in a gesture that was barely discernable as a nod.

            And thus ruined his life.

~*~

            This is a story begun by a beautiful young woman, carried out by a group of humans barely more then animals, and ended with a promise.  A story that begins in darkness and ends in light. Severus wasn't evil, not truly evil- but then again nothing is pure good or pure evil- nothing short of Lord Voldemort that is.

            The trouble with that, is that most people don't look that close. If you're a Slytherin you are the devil incarnate and people don't want to get too close lest you stab them in the back. 

            Severus never before understood this sort of prejudice- but now it was clear to him. The group that ran like wolves, destroying everything that stood in their way was made mostly of Slytherins.

            Slytherins like him. At least that's what he told himself- that's the way it appeared. 

            And so, the boy, Severus Snape- the future Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry did the only thing expected of him at that moment. He followed. He didn't believe that there was no good in the world, he just hadn't seen any. Evil? Certainly there was evil but power was more important to him then doing the right thing.

            Power meant he could be more then greasy-haired Severus Snape- the boy without any friends. He didn't want to hear that power meant corruption. In his mind, power meant that he could have everything he had ever wanted. Everything his neglectful parents had denied him. 

            And the first thing he wanted was love.

            And he thought he had found it in Raven.

            How very wrong he was. 

            Raven was a very pretty woman, with black hair that shone, well, like a raven's. Her dark eyes were sharp and shiny, missing nothing. Raven saw little in Severus when she met him that night- he was a new Death Eater when she had been one her whole life, and he was younger than her. 

            She watched Severus lift up the sleeve of his robe, and then he was branded- branded with the Dark Mark, Voldemort's symbol. That was his initiation- there was no tests of physical skill or mental stability to suffer through, since Lord Voldemort himself could be called insane and he was frail to begin with. But when Voldemort had established his organization, his Death Eaters and encouraged others to secretly join, he became strong in his followers' eyes. He stood at the head of the group, overseeing Severus's branding, watching silently out of the folds of his heavy black hood. His eyes glowed strangely red, reflecting the fire. 

            "Now, for the celebration," said the man at Voldemort's right side, Quentin Malfoy. Quentin Malfoy was Lucius Malfoy's father, and he was very proud that he was the Dark Lord's right hand man. Quentin raised his wand straight in the air. "MORSMORDRE!" he cried, and the Mark erupted from his wand, hovering in the night sky. Raven gasped. She had never seen this before. Voldemort stood, looking at the Mark. Raven sensed that he was smiling as he handed Severus a bottle of black wine. Severus poured the Dark Lord a glass, and then passed it around. 

            Soon the crowd was drunk with wine. Fires spread across the field that was their meeting place, and the laughs grew louder with every felled tree. A man raised his glass, and pouring more wine he shouted, "Let's kill ourselves another Muggle!" 

            His slurred words pushed the crowd to louder shouting and calling for death. Voldemort gave a slight nod, and Quentin gestured for a group of men standing behind him to capture a Muggle. They came back a quarter of an hour later, pushing a woman in front of them. Her glasses were askew across her face, her dress and hair was rumpled. She looked scared and uncertain of her surroundings. One of the men pushed her down and forced her face into the dirt. Raven thought she heard the woman whimper. 

            Voldemort looked expectantly at Severus, who was handed a wand. The Dark Lord gestured at the woman, lying on the ground and looking pleadingly up at the new Death Eater. 

            Severus knew what was expected of him, and he knew that he had to do it if he wanted to remain a Death Eater, so he raised his wand and pointed it at the woman. "Avada Kedavra," he murmured. 

            And in the flash of green light that followed, Severus Snape became a Death Eater. 


	4. Chapter Two

Raven

Chapter Two

            After the party that followed his initiation, Severus went home to his room in the Leaky Cauldron. He had been renting it out for almost a month now, since a lust for death and destruction had lured him to London to join the Death Eaters. A friend of him had joined a long time ago and had been pestering Severus to do so ever since. It had taken him a long time to actually Apparate to London, though; Severus had always been a bit unsure of himself. 

            The mirror in the room screamed, "Wash your hair, greasy! Are you fixing to join a biker gang?" Severus glared at the mirror menacingly. He was already irritated enough without the mirror on his back, insulting his appearance. Running a hand through his hair, he sat on the bed and pulled the covers over him without getting undressed. But, he couldn't get to sleep. Thoughts of the Muggle woman screaming chased themselves around his mind. He tossed and turned in bed for a long time after falling into a restless, nightmare-filled sleep. 

~*~ 

            Severus straggled downstairs to the Leaky Cauldron the next morning for a large glass of coffee. The bartender took a look at him- his wrinkled robes, his uncombed hair, the circles under his eyes- and slid him an extra large glass, filled to the brim, and said, "On the house." For a brief moment Severus thought guiltily of the pieces of the shattered mirror in his room, but that moment passed quickly enough and Severus gulped down the rest of his coffee, feeling slightly more revived. He was just about to get another when the bell on the door clanged and a woman entered. 

            He recognized her…yes! From the meeting last night! She sat on the stool next to Severus. 

            "Hey," he whispered, "I know you, from the Dea"- 

            "Shh," she cut in, placing a hand over his mouth and glancing suspiciously at the bartender. "Let's go somewhere more…friendly," she suggested, looking up at Severus with a smirk on her face. He nodded and followed her, throwing a Knut onto the counter for the bartender. 

            "I'm Raven," she said, leading Severus out to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. "You're our new member." Raven took out her wand and began tapping blocks on the wall to the left of the trashcan. Mistaking the astonished look on Severus's face for her wand, she said, "It's a Gregorovitch, very rare- Veela hair and dragon heartstring. The hair is from my mother," Raven continued. "She was a veela, but I got the black hair from my father's side." 

            "How long have you been a Death Eater?" Snape stammered as a hole opened in the wall. Taking a look around, Raven pulled him in and the hole sucked shut behind them. 

            "Welcome to Knockturn Alley," Raven said. "You'll find that most of us tend to like it here better than Diagon Alley. We've got our wand shop," she said, waving her hand at the Gregorovitch sign, "our pub," gesturing at the Bleeding Heart emblem posted above a door, "and," she said in more hushed tones, "our very own secret bank. You may have thought Gringotts was the only one, but no, no. We keep all our money in here." She pointed to a run-down building next to the Bleeding Heart. Severus thought that Gringotts looked a little trustworthier. 

            Raven pulled him into the Bleeding Heart and ordered a tall glass of black, shiny liquor. Severus thought that he'd try the same. He took a sip. It was like a fireball burning down his throat. Raven looked at him with raised eyebrows.          

            "First time having some, huh?" she asked with a smile. 

            "Yes," Severus croaked, trying not to pass out. 

            "You better get used to it," she said. "That's all we serve at meetings. I'll be seeing you there. Our next meeting is at Quentin Malfoy's manor house, at midnight. Send an owl if you don't know the way." Raven got up, and Severus followed her, leaving his full glass at the counter.

            "Hey," the bartender said threateningly, "Where's my money?" 

            "How 'bout you take care of it, Severus?" said Raven. Severus tossed the man two sickles and followed Raven out the door. 


	5. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
A Love Not Forgotten  
  
Severus packed up his belongings in his room above the Leaky Cauldron. Raven had shown him another hotel in Knockturn Alley, a hotel that was supposedly  
  
'friendlier to our kind,' as she had said.  
  
He would be going there and waiting until Lucius Malfoy picked him up to go to the Death Eater meeting. Severus wondered vaguely what was done at meetings, and supposed tonight might be a little off schedule since the Death Eaters had welcomed several new members, including an Igor Karkaroff, who Severus was curious to meet. He had heard that Igor taught in a school somewhere near Germany called Durmstrang.  
  
Severus took up his bags took the route Raven had shown him to Knockturn Alley. He walked up to a run-down place next to the Bleeding Heart and rented a room. Once inside, he put down his bags and looked around.  
  
The room was pretty much empty. There was a washstand, grimy-looking shower and toilet next to the bed. There wasn't even a curtain to cover the private area around the toilet. The bed had a thin mattress and the springs poked into Severus's back as he lay down on the bed to test it. The four- drawer bureau was the only other piece of furniture in the room.  
  
Thank goodness, there was no mirror. Severus didn't feel like being screamed at about his greasy hair.  
  
Severus sat down, awaiting Lucius's arrival.  
  
"Here we are," said Lucius twenty minutes later. They had flown out of London on broomsticks using their Invisibility Cloaks. They had landed on the roof of an old manor house, which, according to Lucius, had been in the Malfoy family for over three hundred years.  
  
Lucius strode over to a trap door in the roof. Severus heard him whisper something under his breath. The trapdoor opened, and Severus stepped forward to see a long, winding staircase that revolved slowly downwards.  
  
"Welcome, my old and new friends," Quentin Malfoy wheezed. He was an old man, but powerful nonetheless. His black eyes, which contrasted sharply with his silvery-blonde hair, swept the long mahogany table. Quentin made a grunt deep in his throat somewhere between approval and annoyance. He picked up a scroll and pen and started checking off names.  
  
"Avery, Nott, Lestrange, Goyle, Poe.."  
  
Quentin read down the list. "And finally.. Snape," he said, with a glimmer in his eye.  
  
During the night, Severus was given everything he needed to be a Death Eater. He got a long, sweeping black cape with a hood and a mask to go with it. He got the passwords to all the places he needed to have passwords for. He was given the secret spells that would help the Dark Lord in his times of need, and the spells that would throw the Dark Mark into the sky in order to terrify nations.  
  
Lucius and Severus departed near three in the morning. The meeting had mentally drained Severus, and he could hardly hold on to his broomstick.  
  
"Oh, one last thing," Lucius said. He took out his wand.  
  
"Morsmordre!" he yelled into the night.  
  
As Severus flew home, he could have sworn he heard people screaming in the distance.  
  
Raven Poe kept flying. She had business to do elsewhere than Knockturn Alley.  
  
She hadn't prepared anything before hand, so she had to improvise. Raven flew silently, a black shadow, over thick forests, her black eyes, flecked with red, scanning the forest floor. Finally she found what she was looking for.  
  
Down, down, down she silently swooped, an old poem whispering in her ear.  
  
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning, Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before. "Surely," I said, "surely that is something at my window lattice; Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore-- Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;-- 'Tis the wind and nothing more!"  
  
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore; Not the least obeisance made she; not a minute stopped or stayed she; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door-- perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door-- Perched, and sat, and nothing more.  
  
But the Raven still beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door; Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore-- What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore Meant in croaking "Nevermore."  
  
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted--nevermore!  
  
  
  
Poe. Edgar Allen Poe. She had been named for that poem, The Raven. her mother had loved it, but that was all she knew of her mother, who had left them a long time ago. Raven hated her mother for leaving her.and for making her what she was. Raven shook her head. No, she would not think of her mother now. She had work to do, and she couldn't change that anyway.  
  
Suddenly her keen eyes spotted a bit of light in the forest. She circled her broomstick down, into the yard of a small yard cabin. Raven smiled.  
  
Five days later, police tape surrounded the yard where Raven had landed. A Scotland Yard officer spoke into a walkie-talkie.  
  
"Yes, all five of them, killed, camping in the woods.cause of death. massive amount of bleeding .Curious, curious." 


	6. Chapter Four

I was going to continue, but I figured it would make an okay cliffhanger if I left it where it is.  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
A Love Not Forgotten  
  
  
  
Three days later, Raven hung back alone after her fellow Death Eaters at the site of the now adjourned meeting. The Death Eater was all alone, with the exception of a mask that some idiot had left near a large oak tree. Raven shook her head in disgust. When were people going to get serious about their business? Severus Snape was new to the movement, and he was already more serious about Voldemort's plan than the ass who had left their mask behind. Raven sighed in frustration as she bent down to pick up the mask, and she then straightened at a regular nighttime noise.  
  
She rather liked these dark woods where you couldn't see anything but trees extending into their own darkness, although she knew very well that there were dangerous creatures lurking nearby. Hippogriffs and dragons occasionally appeared, as well as the very rarely sighted Pegasus. There were then the normal creatures of the magic woods: pixies, mokes, doxies, ashwinders, jobberknolls and the boring horklumps.  
  
But the dangerous creatures didn't worry Raven in the least. No, not at all. It wasn't as if they could harm her, being what she was.  
  
Being what she was. The words made Raven shiver and feel nauseas at the same time.  
  
At that moment, as she stood in the center of the clearing in the woods, with no one around for miles, a random thought popped into her head: Although she had been named for The Raven, she couldn't help but feel she would be better suited to another one of Edgar Allen Poe's poems.  
  
  
  
From childhood's hour I have not been  
  
As others were-I have not seen  
  
As others saw-I could not bring  
  
Passions from a common spring-  
  
From the same source I have not taken  
  
My sorrow-I could not awaken  
  
My heart to joy at the same tone-  
  
And all I lov'd-I lov'd alone-  
  
Then-in my childhood-and in the dawn  
  
Of a most stormy life-was drawn  
  
From ev'ry depth of good and ill  
  
The mystery which binds me still-  
  
From the torrent, or the fountain-  
  
From the red cliff of the mountain-  
  
From the sun that 'round me roll'd  
  
In its autumn tint of gold-  
  
From the lightning in the sky  
  
As it pass'd me flying by-  
  
From the thunder an the storm-  
  
And the cloud that took the form  
  
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)  
  
Of a demon in my view-  
  
  
  
Yes, Poe's Alone suited her best, she thought as she began to gather her things. Especially the last line.  
  
Of a demon in my view  
  
  
  
~*~  
  
  
  
Severus Snape had been flying for not long at all when he realized that he had forgotten his mask back in the woods. He immediately turned around and headed back.  
  
  
  
When he landed in the clearing, he noticed that his mask was missing from where he had placed it, near a large oak tree. He made his way towards the tree to look for it, but halted when a voice spoke.  
  
  
  
"Oh, so you're the idiot who left their mask behind." The speaker's voice sounded familiar, but from where, he couldn't figure out. Severus could only hope that it was a fellow Death Eater, and not a witch or wizard from the light side who knew who he was-or worse, it might be auror. Then he'd be killed on the spot or sent to Azkaban. Immediately, a list of feared names rushed through his head. Dumbledore- Mad Eye Moody- Longbottom- Fudge-  
  
  
  
Hoping that whoever the speaker was hadn't already identified him, he reached up and grabbed his hood, hastily pulling it over his head. It was only then that the young Death Eater turned to face the speaker. 


	7. Chapter Five

A Love Not Forgotten

Chapter Five

            "You stupid jackass," Raven said, though she looked frankly calm and somewhat amused. "You really ought to be more careful." Raven was standing in the shadows, squinting at him. 

            "Who are you to talk?" he asked, "you're still in your robes from last night. Come out here so that I can get a better look at you."

            "Don't think so, Snape. I'm going to give you your mask and then I'm going homer. I'll see you at the meeting next week."

            She threw the mask at him, it bounced off of his forehead and he couldn't see where Raven went.

~*~

            _I hate the sun… it's so damn bright. And so hot_. Raven thought as she Disapparated in her apartment. She quickly abandoned her robes for Muggle clothing, a leather miniskirt, a rather tight red shirt. She put on contacts to hide the rather conspicuous red in her eyes. Finishing the look with a pair of high-heeled boots that went to her knees, Raven waited for the afternoon to pass, waiting for the sun to go behind the hills.

~*~

            Irene Miller had fallen on rough times. Once upon a time she had been a promising student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- now she was a hooker. And this was _her_ corner. So- when the tall, dark haired woman started past her, moving her hips in a way that Irene knew all too well she wondered for a minute who this stranger was. She watched as a man went up to the dark stranger, watched as he was led into an alleyway, and watched as the stranger came out alone. "What the…?" Irene stared; sure it was a trick of the light. She knew these streets like the back of her hand. Where had that guy gone?

            She waited until the woman was gone and went into what she expected as a deserted alleyway. Living out on the streets had hardened Irene so she didn't yell out right away, though it was pretty close. The young man the stranger had taken with her was still there… or at least his body was. There was a halo of blood around his head.

            "Shit… what happened to you?" Irene shuddered and then realized exactly what the stranger must have been. Before she could do anything else something his her in the base of the neck and all was black. 

~*~

            That night when the police filed their latest report Raven was there to hear them.

            "A young woman, probably a drug addict or a prostitute was found dead in an alleyway near a young man, also dead who had died of massive bleeding. The woman's skull had been cracked when we found her… bizarre." 


	8. Chapter Six

A Love Not Forgotten 

Chapter Six 

"The two died of massive bleeding…half a tablespoon of blood was left in each body, as if it had been sucked out…" the newscaster shook her head and shuffled her papers. "Tragic. These recent killings, paired with some other murders of the same sort, have spawned massive publicity and home safety. Parents are advised to keep your children in sight at all times to ward off this modern-day Jack the Ripper. Now, to traffic…"

~*~ 

            Raven arrived at her apartment late the next morning. She collapsed onto the unmade cot and tried to slide her boots off her feet, but they wouldn't come off. She reached down and yanked them off, throwing them across the room. They bounced off the small black and white TV, denting the antenna and knocking the small radio off the shelf. 

            Too tired to care, Raven leaned back onto the bed and ran her tongue against her teeth. The glaring sun bounced off her tube of red lipstick and into her eyes. Raven groaned and squeezed her red-flecked eyes shut, too late remembering the contacts. She pulled them out and blinked. She was too tired for this. Leaving the contacts bare on the wicker nightstand, Raven drifted off into a black, frightening world that she called a dream. Nightmares we another story.

~*~ 

            Severus Snape checked the building number and then strode inside. It looked even worse on the inside than it did on the outside. The wallpaper peeled off the walls, and in some places it had come off altogether. The sheetrock crumbled under these bare spots. A gleam of piping shone through. The rug was stained in many places with who-knows-what. Severus stepped over a particularly large, red and brown spot and up to the deserted counter. A typewriter sat, abandoned, with the first two lines of a letter typed out on the yellowed paper. Something banged up above.

            "Hello?" Severus called. "Anybody here?" No one answered. Severus walked over to the hallway on the right, where the rug was replaced with a faded wooden floor. He pressed the elevator button. Nothing happened, so he took the stairs. Every other one creaked, and there was no railing. He climbed up to the third floor and knocked on door number three. Nothing happened. He eased the door open. 

            Raven lay, sprawled on the bed, in Muggle clothing! Well, Severus was wearing Muggle clothing too, since the address was not a Knocturn or Diagon Alley address, but…Raven looked…

            He couldn't describe how Raven looked. But he wondered what she was doing here. This room reminded him of his own apartment, but that was a Knocturn Alley address. What was a well-off pureblood like Raven doing in a place like this?          

            Severus walked over to Raven and knelt down beside the bed, so he was looking at her face. Her black hair was knotted on the pillow, the red highlights glaring in the rays of sun coming in through the window- that didn't have a curtain. Her skin looked paler than usual. Her ruby lips were parted just enough to reveal the tips of her white teeth. Her eyelashes were black, framing her closed eyes. The sleeping girl exhaled. Her breath smelled strange to Severus. Maybe it was a new kind of Death Eater alcohol? He leaned in closer. 

            Just then, Raven opened her eyes. 


End file.
